Statues - Hither & Thither

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Sankt Veit an der Glan
Kärnten

Hauptplatz

Pestsäule

Plague Column

Angelo de Putti
1715-16

Description

The marble Plague Column, erected in 1715/1716 by Angelo de Putti, consists of an octagonal stepped base, a baluster enclosure with a pini-pens, a two-storey square structure with a concluding three-sided obelisk. On the east side is a table altar with the grave figure of St. Rosalia. On the lower floor are an inscription panel and the Imperial Eagle with the town's coat of arms. Statues of St. Mary Immaculate and four saints stand on the wide cornice. At the foot of the obelisk, God the Father and the Son are sitting, above them is the Holy Spirit depicted as a dive. The obelisk is crowned by the Eye of God.

God the Father and the Son

The Holy Ghost

Eye of God

St. Mary

St. Rosalia
(1130-1166), also called La Santuzza or "The Little Saint", revered as a protector against infectious diseases (Wikipedia).

St. Sebastian
(died c. 288), martyr, killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians (Wikipedia).

St. Roch
(14th century), saint from Montpellier, he is specially invoked against the plague. (Wikipedia).

St. Aloisius
(Castiglione delle Stiviere 1568 - Rome 1591) Italian Jesuit. Canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726 (Wikipedia).

St. Franz Xaver
(Javier, Navarra 1506 - São João Island, China, 1552), pioneering Roman Catholic missionary, co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Wikipedia).

Inscription(s)

Imperial eagle with coat of arms of
St. Veit an der Glan

Pyramis
Qvam
Ex Devoto Affectv
Antiqvæ Metropolis Ad Sanctvm
Vitvm In Archidvcatvs Carin-
thiæ
Magistratvs et Cives
Vovere
Regnante Avgvstissimo
Imperatore
CAROLO VI
Germaniæ Hispaniæ Hvngariæ Bohe-
Rege,
Archidvce Avstriæ,
et
CARINTHIÆ

HONORI
Sanctissima Triadis
DEI
Patris Creatoris
DEI
Fily Redemptoris
DEI
Spiritvs Sancti Consolatoris
IMACVLATÆ
Dei Genitricis Semper Virginis
MARIÆ
Sanctorvmqve Contra Lvem
Pestiferam Protectorvm

IN
perpetvvm Gratiarvm Actione
Anath....
Ob
...arvm In Perbem Lvis
Contagiosa Pericvlvm
A
Fvtvram Contra Hvivsmodi
Mostissimos Infesta Pestis
Percuris? Protectionem
Anno
MDCCXV

Marian, Holy Trinity and Plague Columns (Mariensäule, Dreifaltigkeitssäule, Pestsäule)

Marian and Holy Trinity columns are religious monuments with a statue of Saint Mary or a depiction of the Holy Trinity on top of a column. Around the base of the column are usually various saints. Marian columns were built to thank the Virgin Mary for intervention to quell the pestilence and other scourges. The first of those was erecrted in Vienna in 1667 (Mariensäule) and the second in 1679 also in Vienna at the Graben, the Pestsäule.
The purpose of the Holy Trinity columns was usually simply to celebrate the church and the faith, although the plague motif could play a role.
Erecting religious monuments in the form of a column surmounted by a figure or a Christian symbol was a gesture of public faith that flourished in the Catholic countries of Europe especially in the 17th and 18th centuries (Wikipedia)

Sculptor

Angelo de Putti, Italian sculptor of the 18th century.

Sources & Information

Wikipedia, Liste der denkmalgeschützten Objekte in Sankt Veit an der Glan.
Juwelen unserer Kulturlandschaft, Kulturdenkmäler in Kärnten und Slowenien.

Locatie (N 46°46'1" - E 14°21'26") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: atka044; Photograph: 12 September 2016
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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